Bikeability Trust welcomes Chris Boardman to Active Travel England

Following today’s announcement that Chris Boardman will be the Interim Active Travel Commissioner for Active Travel England, the government’s commissioning body for walking and cycling, Emily Cherry, Chief Executive of The Bikeability Trust said: 

“It is fantastic that Chris Boardman has been appointed as Interim Active Travel Commissioner for Active Travel England. He is a passionate and knowledgeable advocate for walking and cycling and the Bikeability Trust is looking forward to working more closely with him to reach our ambition of offering every child cycle training. 

“For Government to achieve its ambition, a long-term funding commitment with year-on-year increases is needed to 2025. Without sustained funding, it is impossible for the Trust to grow capacity and capability to offer cycle training to more children.

“Bikeability training gives children the skills and confidence they need to cycle on today’s roads but far too often children cannot cycle to school because it is unsafe. Alongside training, the investment Active Travel England will make in ensuring genuinely safe, segregated infrastructure that gives people of all ages the freedom to cycle without safety concerns is hugely exciting.  

“Along with our partners, the Trust is building the evidence Active Travel England will need to develop a plan to enable more people to travel by cycle or on foot. We will support the Commissioner in drawing on the expertise of our training providers and instructors. We have a wealth of insight and evidence which will support plans to fund more cycle training, improve infrastructure, and develop behaviour change campaigns to encourage active travel. 

“Establishing Active Travel England is a positive step forward, but we have a long road ahead of us before walking or cycling is the most attractive travel choice for journeys to school, work and beyond. We welcome this much-anticipated announcement and we are looking forward to the Commissioner joining us on a Bikeability training session soon!”